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Reuters

Minister of State for Information Khieu Kanharith told Reuters the government no longer planned to sue Taiwanese petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics over the waste but would be discussing a compensation payment with the firm.

``They agreed to take it back to Taiwan, but we still need to talk about compensation,'' he said.

He said the government had concluded that filing a lawsuit against the firm would be expensive and time consuming. ``It's better to discuss an arrangement,'' he said.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth said senior officials of Formosa Plastics visited the dump site outside the southern town of Sihanoukville on Friday to take samples for testing in Taiwan.

On Wednesday, the firm said it had written to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to apologise for the trouble caused by the waste.

News of the waste sparked riots in Sihanoukville last month in which one person was killed as protesters sacked offices of local officials they blamed for allowing it in the country.

Four others died in a panicked exodus of more than 10,000 Sihanoukville residents fearing contamination

Cambodia's Health Ministry has said the reported deaths of at least two residents appeared linked to unprotected movement of the waste.

Georg Petersen, the World Health Organisation's representative for Cambodia, said tests on the waste had shown ``extremely high'' concentrations of inorganic mercury.

Being inorganic mercury meant it did not present an immediate health threat but it could be a longer-term hazard, he said. ``It has to go somewhere else,'' he said.

Samples tested at the Japanese environmental agency's Minamata Institute showed mercury concentrations varying from 500 parts per million to as high as 3,900 parts per million, Petersen said.

One sample showed a small amount of highly toxic metal mercury, he said. However, Petersen said blood and urine tests on people who had complained of sickness after coming into contact with the waste had all proven normal.

``None seems to have symptoms of poisoning,'' he said.

Separate tests by Singaporean laboratory Matcor Technology and Services showed mercury concentrations of 675 parts per million -- far above safe levels.

Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration said samples brought back by environmentalists had tested slightly above safe standards for mercury contamination and urged Formosa to retrieve the shipment.

Taiwanese news reports said Formosa was considering sending the waste to the United States or Germany.

Formosa had the waste shipped to Cambodia in late November.

It has said the cement-like material was tainted with mercury but had been certified by the Environmental Protection Administration as safe for landfill disposal.